To show any emotion on the Isle of the Lost was to show weakness. Well any emotion other than those of spite, sarcasm, anger and so on. That would be why when Carlos told Jay he had a crush on him, had had a crush on him since they met years ago, that Jay had laughed right in his face. In fact he laughed for so long he didn't notice that Carlos was no longer standing in front of him.
When Jay noticed his absence, he immediately went to the door that was open and looked both ways down the hall of Auradon Prep. When he didn't see Carlos anywhere in sight he returned to his room to text Carlos. He pulled out his cell phone, a gift from Ben to all the villains' children after they turned their backs on evil and helped defeat Maleficent, and texted his childhood friend.
Jay: Hey C, where did you go? You're not.. upset right? I didn't mean to laugh so long, that was just a really good joke..
Jay stared at his phone for a few minutes before realizing that Carlos wasn't texting back right away like he'd hoped so instead he set his phone beside him and picked up the controller for the video games and started to play. After he had finished three levels of the game he finally felt his phone vibrate and snatched it up from beside him.
Carlos: It's fine Jay.. I was just trying to make you laugh.. ha ha. But you just kept going and I really had to be somewhere so I left. Cya later
Jay frowned at the text. Carlos explained why he left, he explained what happened, but it still made Jay feel uneasy for some reason. He couldn't put his finger on why Carlos's message bothered him so much but it did. However, Carlos wasn't his responsibility. Sure, the four villain kids looked out for each other no matter what, but that didn't mean he had to go chasing anyone around or making them feel better if something was wrong. They may have chosen good over evil, but Jay and Mal still had a little trouble softening up and showing their feelings to people. Carlos and Evie had always been slightly less abrasive than their two friends and had therefore fallen into the path of goodness a lot easier than Jay or Mal.
Because of this Jay didn't see Carlos for the rest of the night. He definitely got really worried, especially when he didn't show up at dinner and neither Mal nor Evie had seen him. His worry grew as he waited in their room and curfew passed and still Carlos hadn't returned. No one in Auradon had any reason to do anything evil to Carlos or any of his friends, but there were still those who were cautious, and some even outright rude, around the villain children. Carlos especially seemed to get singled out for bullying as he was always very sweet, and kind of scared, he didn't fight back as much. Chad Charming had been known to pick on the fifteen-year-old boy frequently, although his friends were always around to back him up. Now though Jay was starting to get worried as midnight came and went.
Just as he was about to text the girls and see if they would come with him to find the boy, Carlos himself entered the room. He stopped as he closed the door and saw Jay glaring at him. Clearly he hadn't expected to be confronted with an angry Jay the second he entered the room, in fact he looked as if he half hoped Jay had been out or asleep. He stood awkwardly by the door, eyes down, when Jay exploded.
"Where the hell have you been?!" he screamed at the smaller boy and saw Carlos flinch. He felt momentarily guilty as he remembered how much more verbal, and often physical, abuse the young de Vil had had to endure from Cruella than the others did from their parents. Jay pushed those feelings of sympathy down though, he felt bad and wouldn't hurt Carlos but he was mad and worried. "Seriously Carlos, you said you had to be somewhere over 12 hours ago and then don't show up for dinner, don't show up for curfew. I almost got a search party together to come find you. What have you been doing?!"
Carlos shifted around, looking at his feet, but not moving closer to Jay. He was visibly shaking and Jay felt worse. His anger drained out of him as he noticed wet tear tracks on Carlos's face and a bruise on his forehead. That bruise hadn't been there this morning. Forgetting his anger completely he strode over to Carlos and lifted his face gently with his hands. Though Carlos had tears running down his face his eyes were mostly expressionless, Jay hated that look. The kind of look where you check out emotionally because you're so upset, he knew that look well; he himself and many other children on the Isle of the Lost wore it often after talking to their evil parents.
"C?" Jay said softly. When Carlos continued to look at him blankly he shook him gently. "C, I'm sorry for yelling man. I didn't mean to get so angry, I just thought maybe something had happened. Which it looks like something did. What happened to your head?"
Carlos continued to look at Jay silently. Finally his eyes focused more, he seemed to realize where he was and that Jay was there in front of him. He dropped his eyes quickly and a blush covered the freckled cheeks Jay had always found adorable.
"I'm so sorry Jay! I didn't mean to worry you at all. It's stupid really, I was out walking in the woods and I tripped on a root and fell. I hit my head on a rock and woke up like 15 minutes ago. I started heading back here a few minutes ago after I figured out what happened. I really am sorry!" Carlos pleaded with his friend, his lips began to tremble and his eyes watered again.
Jay released the boys face and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug against his hard chest. Carlos small, slender frame fit perfectly against Jay's larger, muscular body. His head was the perfect height for Jay to rest his chin on but he buried his face in the boy's white spiky hair. He felt Carlos shaking against him and rubbed his hands soothingly up and down the boy's back before wrapping his arms around his waist and just holding him until Carlos calmed down.
Eventually Carlos pulled away slowly and smiled up at Jay shyly, his blush came back lighting up his wet cheeks. "Sorry Jay, I was just really scared you were super upset with me. I really didn't want you to be mad."
Jay smiled down at Carlos and hugged him tight again before pulling away. "I didn't mean to freak out C. I know you got enough of that with your mom. I was just nervous Chad or someone else messed with you. Listen, why don't you shower quick and change into something comfortable and I'll run to the kitchens quick to get you some ice to put on your forehead." He smiled again and snuck quietly out the door and into the hallway.
Five minutes later when he got back and Carlos was just coming out of their bathroom drying off his hair, which was damp and for once hanging down into his eyes. His slender chest was shirtless and the lower half of his body was covered only by a small pair of spotted briefs, like a dalmatian; Jay couldn't help but grin at how adorable he looked. He walked over to Carlos still standing by the bathroom door and handed him the bag of ice. He then put his hand on Carlos' back, just at the waistband of his briefs, and gently led him over to his bed.
"Lay down with that ice pack on your forehead for about 10-15 minutes and then you can go to bed. That should keep most of the swelling down. You need some rest, even though you've been passed out most of the day it's been a long one for you. I'm heading to bed myself, but if you need anything just wake me up ok C?" Jay questioned while staring at Carlos. His head was a dark purplish blue, and he winced when he put the ice pack to his head, but mostly he seemed ok.
Carlos managed a weak "K Jay, sleep well," before lying down and closing his eyes. Jay himself walked over to his bed, and stripped off his shirt and pants until he stood only in his red boxer briefs. He crawled under the covers and was asleep within minutes; it had been a long stressful day for him too after all.
Jay woke up what felt like seconds later, although after checking the clock he realized it was almost two hours later, to whimpers and cries across the room. "No.. no I'm sorry! Please don't, I didn't mean to! I won't do it again, please!" Carlos was crying, his voice starting to get louder. Jay bolted across the room and crawled under the covers the pull Carlos close to him. Carlos began to quiet down, his cries and moans getting lower and lower until they stopped completely. When Jay tried to move away Carlos' arms shot down and clutched Jay's hands, which were wrapped around his waist, like a lifeline.
Carlos' quiet, scared voice whispered to Jay, "Please don't leave. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, but I keep having horrible nightmares. Can you just.. stay here with me until I fall asleep again?" He sounded so scared and sad and vulnerable that Jay couldn't say no. Without responding he tightened his arms around Carlos' waist and snuggled up to him, his chest against Carlos' back and his nose snuggled into the boy's soft white hair. Both of them ended up falling asleep snuggled up against each other, holding one another like they were the only people in the world.